Naming rights in Sioux Falls might expand

City ponders plan to allow public branding on city-owned properties

Mar. 23, 2013

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The Sioux Falls City Council will consider changes to an ordinance dealing with the naming of city-owned facilities, changes city officials say will better specify how certain items can be named and open up more opportunities to the public to do so.

The proposed ordinance change would open up naming rights to a variety of other city-owned properties and “fixtures,” or items affixed to the land or building. The potential places for naming rights include plazas, monuments, park properties, library facilities and other buildings or properties owned by the city. Exempt are park benches, donor plaques, engraved pavers, golf hole sponsorships, sports fields, batting cages or library shelves or collections.

The current ordinance states only that the City Council would approve naming rights for a city building, city attorney David Pfeifle said. The ordinance specifies by name city buildings it applies to: Sioux Falls Baseball Stadium, Sioux Falls Convention Center, Sioux Falls Arena, Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls Public Library, the Harriet L. J. Ronning Branch Library, Ruth Kennedy Caille Branch Library and Pettigrew Home and Museum.

“Over the years, naming rights opportunities have been expanding greatly across the country, and we’ve seen here in the city … naming rights opportunities have been expanding right here in the city of Sioux Falls,” Pfeifle said.

The discussion about expanding naming rights in the city was spurred by discussion of naming rights for the new Denny Sanford Premier Center, said Councilor Kenny Anderson Jr., chairman of the Public Services Committee. The committee recently heard the proposal on the changes, and councilors saw a need to open up naming rights opportunities for other city-owned property.

The proposed changes would improve the steps in place now, Anderson said. Currently, the council has no oversight on the naming of city-owned property.

“What we’ve set up is more of a communication process, where we’re now made aware of these potential naming rights or these changes they want to make on public property,” Anderson said.

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Pfeifle, who presented the information to the Public Services Committee, said the goal is to make naming rights opportunities consistent, with proper approval processes.

Under the changes, all requests for proposals or individual applications for the naming or renaming of city properties and amenities would be reviewed by one of several committees, depending on the nature of the item to be named or renamed, with final approval going to the City Council.

For instance, the Parks and Recreation Board would review applications about the proposed naming of park property, including the Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum, and the Library Board would review any proposed naming of library properties.

The proposed ordinance change also establishes a new City Naming Committee to review all requests not involving a park, library or streets.

In many cases of city-owned property naming, the proposed ordinance states consideration would primarily be given to commemorate noteworthy people associated with the city, celebrating local history, places or events, or to recognize native wildlife, plants or natural features related to the community and the city.

Anderson said the committees reviewing applications would determine what the appropriate donation dollar amount for various naming opportunities would be, which then would be reviewed by the City Council before approval.

Expanding naming rights opportunities and further structuring how that process works is not aimed at bringing financial gain for the city, Anderson said, but rather making the naming rights process clearer.

Naming of larger facilities, while it might not happen often, Pfeifle said, probably would go through a competitive bid process, the same kind of process used to determine naming rights for the Denny Sanford Premier Center. The responsibility to know when such a process is needed is the responsibility of the committees and, ultimately, the council.

“It’s something where, as the opportunities arise, I think you’re just going to have to pay attention and know kind of what the market is, and if it’s going to need a request for proposals or if the application will be sufficient, it’s difficult to predict,” Pfeifle said.

The proposed ordinance change is modeled after the one used in Omaha, Pfeifle said. He said naming rights is somewhat “unchartered territory” in terms of how much standards communities set forth on the issue. He said the ordinance is aimed at being more proactive.

“I think a lot of communities just kind of have informal policies that aren’t spelled out so much in ordinance,” he said.

The ordinance changes are expected to go before the full council for review in April.